Goldsmiths lecturer named National Gallery Artist in Residence

Rosalind Nashashibi, a Turner Prize-nominated artist and Goldsmiths, University of London Senior Lecturer in Fine Art, has been named 2020 Artist in Residence for the National Gallery.

The filmmaker and painter is the first artist in residence to be chosen for the National Gallery since it launched its new modern and contemporary programme.

For a year from September 2019, she will work in the gallery’s on-site artist’s studio, benefitting from the close proximity to the gallery’s collection, research and teams. The residency will culminate in a summer 2020 publication and display of the artist’s work. 

Nashashibi was chosen by a jury of artists and curators including the Director of the Pier Arts Centre in Stromness, Orkney – the UK partner museum for the residency.

The artist in residence position is aimed at an artist in the middle of their career, and replaces the National Gallery’s associate artist scheme, which had run since 1989. As well as funding of £30,000, an artist in residence may receive a further award based on particular personal or familial responsibilities.     

After accepting the position, Rosalind Nashashibi said: “I am very excited to have been invited as Artist in Residence. The National Gallery is of tremendous inspiration to artists from all over the world and I look forward to exploring its collection and history, as well as those of the Pier Arts Centre in Orkney. I am glad that the set-up of the Residency is made for the actual working lives of artists today, enabling both work and the caring for family responsibilities at the same time.”

A Turner Prize nominee in 2017, Nashashibi has consistently received international critical acclaim for her films which combine the everyday with the fantastical, incorporating cinematic narratives while using a painterly style to capture her observations. An artist of Palestinian and Irish heritage, Nashashibi’s works also reflect a broad internationalism with subjects ranging from police in New York, families in Gaza, and women in Tahiti.

She represented Scotland in the 2007 Venice Biennale and was the first woman to win the Beck’s Futures prize in 2003. Her work is included in many public collections, among others the British Arts Council, UK; Centre Pompidou, Paris; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; and Tate Britain, London. 

Daniel F. Herrmann, National Gallery Curator of Modern & Contemporary Projects, said: “Since its inception in 1824, the National Gallery’s collection has inspired the most exciting artists of its day. Our artist in residence programme continues this tradition of supporting contemporary practice.

“We are delighted to work together with Rosalind Nashashibi, one of the finest and most astute artists working in Britain today. Her critical acumen, visual innovation and curiosity for the stories of images in our lives are of outstanding importance, poignancy, and beauty. We look forward to collaborating with our UK Partner Museum, The Pier Arts Centre in Orkney, to presenting the artist’s work to our visitors.”